Ebike4Africa – Solutions adapted to mobility issues in Africa

Electric bikes, adapted to the African continent, working with solar energy and accessible to the greatest possible number of people, this is SunCycles, the solution conceived by the young company Ebike4Africa based in Namibia.

The issue

The mobility at the core of the continent’s challenges

Between 4 and 5 million second-hand cars arrive in Africa every year to be sold, a significant pollution source and cities’ congestion factor.

With the deficit in public transport, bikes appear as the most adapted solution on the continent. But products made in the western world are expensive and not adapted to an incredibly rugged Africa.

The solution

Answer the deficit in public transport through an adapted, ecological and accessible product

Mountain bikes, powered by solar energy, at a lower cost, and which answer environmental questions – Photo credit Ebikes4Africa – RR

The Namibian startup Ebikes4Africa, specialized in the conception of mobility tools adapted to Africa, set up the product SunCycles, an electric mountain bike conceived in Namibia, working with solar energy. “Windhoek spends one-third of its available income for unsustainable and expensive public transport which are neither practical nor safe, mostly taxi,” the co-founder of Ebikes4Africa, Marita WALTHER explains. “Our bikes and solar battery systems answer the needs of local users, environmental questions, and also maintenance issues.”

The stakeholders

Marita WALTHER: From journalism to entrepreneurship

Marita WALTHE, co-founder of Ebikes4Africa – Photo credit Ebikes4Africa – RR

The Namibian writer Marita WALTHER got into entrepreneurship to be a “stakeholder of the change.” “Despite my previous experiences as a journalist and photographer (BA International Studies, BA (Hons) Journalism & Media Studies et MA Documentary Photography), I decided to leap, with no preparation about what an entrepreneur’s life was like.”

The impact

The launch of an economic and ecologic way of transportation

Delivery people, humanitarian workers, game wardens… SunCycles bicycles have met the needs of all types of users – Photo credit Ebikes4Africa – RR

Between April 2015 and January 2020, the startup sold almost 250 electric bikes and mobile solar charging stations in Namibia and to a small number of organizations and companies in other African countries such as Uganda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. “Thanks to our solutions, we had an impact on many users and their transportation and energy needs, from touristic companies to gamekeepers, anti-poaching brigade, farmers, entrepreneurs…”

Digital Africa's perspective

We saw in recent years the potential of e-mobility developed in Europe and North America. The project EBikes4Africa bets on the African market, still unexploited. As the first project of this kind in Namibia, EBikes4Africa has a social and environmental mission uniting solar energy, accessibility of rural areas, and eco-responsible logistics.

Find out more:

Les vélos en terres africaines un mode en voie de démocratisation, Demain la ville
Le « smart » pour relever le défi de la mobilité urbaine ?, La Tribune Afrique
Le défi des mobilités urbaines en Afrique, Ifri
Transports durables dans les villes africaines, UN habitat

Ebike4Africa – Solutions adapted to mobility issues in Africa

The issue

The solution

The stakeholders

The impact

Digital Africa's perspective

Find out more:

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